Chicago’s deadly 1995 heat wave still haunts Black neighborhoods left behind by climate and housing policy

30 Years After Chicago’s Deadliest Heat Wave, Systemic Racism Is Still the Root Problem

Originally published by Inside Climate News CHICAGO — Cheryl Johnson was watching the news during the worst heat wave in her city’s history when she learned that a man she’d known since she was a child had been found dead on the steps of a church downtown. She’ll never forget the moment. Her friend — who she knew by his nickname DD — was in his 40s, about a decade older than her. They grew up together in the community where Johnson still lives t…

Chicago’s deadly 1995 heat wave still haunts Black neighborhoods left behind by climate and housing policy

Thirty years after Chicago's deadliest heat wave killed 739 people, mostly Black residents in segregated neighborhoods, the city is still struggling to address the systemic inequality that made the disaster so lethal.Keerti Gopal reports for Inside Climate News.In short:The 1995 heat wave exposed how racism, housing insecurity, and social isolation made poor Black communities far more vulnerable to extreme heat; those same conditions persist tod…